Classics for Pleasure

 

EMI's budget label.

I am sad when recordings are relegated to the budget series of a label, such as Classics for Pleasure and Red Line for EMI. Especially ones like this which are simply superb performances. Unfortunately, many will bypass these for flashier fare.

Be that as it may, this is a thrilling performance of Mozart's Requiem in D minor. The solo voices are  Olympian sized, the chorus  ratchets up a terrifying atmosphere, and Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos is totally on board leading an exhausting performance of this chestnut.

Some will take umbrage with the size and scope of these forces, balk at the sheer passion taken in K. 626. This is true especially considering today's preferences for smaller, more intimate ensembles and techniques. Yet, I don't need a Mozart sapped of warmth, emotion, and strength; here is an example of how that approach can work so well.

Sure, the quartet of vocal soloists are of a Verdi-an scale, where their all-in vocalizing makes me sweat. William Pitz was a great chorus master, and you can hear a well-prepared symphonic chorus in the New Philharmonia singers. Both are highlights of this recording.

I don't think I know Spanish conductor de Burgos for his Mozart; more for his dedication to Manuel de Falla. Give me more such as this! Mozart doesn't need to be as delicate China, handled so as the lightest breath will shatter it. Indeed, this is as successful of such a venture as I know to show a hardier aspect of the composer's music.

The Requiem by itself is of rather short timing, under an hour here. There are other releases of this same performance with de Burgos & Co.; those reissues add the Masonic Funeral Music from Otto Klemperer or Exsultate, Jubilate with Barbara Hendricks, plus Ave Verum Corpus under Karajan depending which release. So, there are other options for those who want more music with the main dish. I personally need not such things, although the Ave Verum is an utter choral masterpiece.

A review from 2019

Rafael De Burgos is largely unknown to me as a conductor other than a respected outing of Orff’s Carmina Burana on EMI, a disc of Debussy on Alto, a disc of Stravinsky also on Alto who’s Rite of Spring times close to ’58 Bernstein, a swipe at the Bruckner 3rd here, and a whole lotta’ Andalusian-tinged compositions. So it is good that we have a rarely recorded conductor in, what I consider, a really strong reference performance of the stalwart Mozart Requiem, a work which has scads of recordings to choose from. Unfortunately, listeners will probably not wend their way to this budget label, Classics for Pleasure, and a little known conductor, De Burgos, to experience what is, by and far, a stellar recording.

This is a big-band, modern instrument performance with a fully Romantic symphonic chorus, so you won’t hear any drawing room delicacy in this Mozart Requiem; every aspect is full to the hilt with engines running. The New Philharmonia Chorus, in particular, seem to have two modes, excitably quiet and excitably loud, with little consideration toward pious devotionality, and the end result is pure electricity in this terror-filled Requiem setting. One may yearn for more nuance or thoughtfulness aside from this declamatory presentation, but the singers leave the audience breathless by the end, the Dies Irae particularly thrilling, but there is plenty of musicality in between. That said, the chorus’ ending consonants can be a little long-lived as was the case in their Carmina Burana, and they have opted for the Germanic Latin pronunciation which is perfectly acceptable in Mozart; tuning and balance among the singers is quite good and they heartily traverse the many polyphonic settings handily without slipping into undue lightness across the quickly-moving melismatic lines. Furthermore, the recording brings the chorus forward enough to hear all of the parts clearly in one of the better large-scale chorus presentations I have heard in a while.

The soloists are fully on board with De Burgos’ forthright presentation as if they were stepping onstage for a performance of Verdi. Edith Mathis’ soprano is a little sweeter than the rest of the crew with George Shirley and Marius Rintzler heroically putting the screws to the music. There was only one moment where I caught Grace Bumbry sliding into a Leontyne Price growl, I think in the Domine Jesu Christe, but the ensemble works well together in full-throated vigour. As with the chorus, the recording brings the vocalists forward in the soundscape for an immediacy that gives the whole affair a certain spontaneous excitement.

The New Philharmonia Orchestra of 1967 is no period ensemble, with a full string section and modern brass, winds, and timpani. Generally all is well on the instrumental front, with a pleasantly full brass sound in the Benedictus, weighty strings in the opening Requiem, although the Tuba Mirum trombone could exhibit a warmer sound. Leslie Pearson’s pipe organ adds a little to the bass line, but its basso continuo is not really heard until the final page of music when it makes its presence fully known. In general, tempos seem purposeful and De Burgos leads the ensembles confidently forward with more urgency than Bohm, Bernstein, or Barenboim, but certainly does not clip forward or seem as pared down as in Gardiner or Abbado.

There are three iterations of this particular recording, two with more Mozart choral music attached on HMV and on EMI, one with Mozart’s Masonic funeral music also on CFP, and this one with just the Mozart Requiem. I highly recommend this performance of Mozart’s Requiem, it is a stunning, fearful interpretation with all pistons firing. This 1967 recording has great sound with the focus put squarely on the chorus and soloists, much of which is presented clearly and forward. There are more ecclesiastically smaller-scaled recordings, more authentically, historically-informed performances, but for a solid, large-scale presentation, I cannot recommend this recording enough. Highly Recommended!

**Update** I originally listened to Burgos' Mozart Requiem on my sound system. After getting an upgrade on my headphones and listening to this recording again, the sound is a slightly grittier than I remember, but nothing that detracts from the excellently strong-willed performances I described above.

 

Listen on YouTube

 

 

Works
Requiem in D minor, K. 626

Soloists
Edith Mathis, soprano
Grace Bumbry, contralto
George Shirley, tenor
Marius Rintzler, bass

Performers
New Philharmonia Chorus
New Philharmonia Orchestra
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, conductor

Label: EMI / CFP
Year: 1968; 1988
Total Timing: 54.18

 

 

 

 

This Mozart Requiem is a hit out of the park for me. Of course, I can't stand niceness and velvet gloves with this composer, shorn of emotional substance and orchestral warmth.

ON the other hand, I could see some not liking the harried quality of this performance, but what fun!

Some may abjure my preferences, but give 'er a try!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find more Mozart recordings HERE!